A quick update!

As the weeks pass I am becoming more and more conscious that time is flying (and that I keep saying this!!!)!  I can't believe it is April, and that nearly a week and a half has passed since my last post!  The weather hasn't helped!  Quite a bit of time has been spent out in the garden, a bit of tidying has occurred, but lots of basking has been going on.  How fabulous it has been being able to sit outside and enjoy the sun!  Anyway, we're off to stop with my brother next week, so I thought I'd better catch up before we go!

Over the past few weekends I have done a few workshops.

The first was a couple of weekends ago when I ran a printing workshop with the Chorley Contemporary Crafters group and showed them how to do some relief printing using polystyrene.  You can read more about that here in their blog post.

The second was with an eight year old (and her mum), where she learnt how to use a sewing machine, cut around templates, and made herself some pretty bunting for her room.

She laid her flags on the floor, and grouped them exactly how she wanted them (despite a few protests from mum who had her own ideas!  It's so hard to stand back sometimes isn't it?!)

She soon got into the groove, and as my machine has the option to go very slow (even if you have your foot right down), it is ideal when showing people how to use a machine.


I am now really looking forward to a Make and Do after school club that I will be running at a local school after Easter!

This week I have been frantically getting orders together.  The first one I was working on was for Piccolo Bambino, a gorgeous shop selling some beautiful things for little ones, and that now have some lovely bandana bibs in stock!

Then I did a bit more work on an order for Ellie Magpie, which is due to open in Prestwich, Manchester after the Easter break.  I made...

... Mr & Mrs pillowcases...



(these will be on sale as single pillowcases so that people can mix and match as they choose)

... and some of my lovely pear tea towels.




Today, I suddenly realized that we really should do something for Easter, so we set to work with some eggs.  I taught my daughter the art of egg blowing, and we covered them in tissue and pva/water solution to make them stronger and easier to paint.  This will be done tomorrow (or Good Friday depending on how we do for time tomorrow!!!)

I also managed to squeeze in a little bit of chick making!!! 

Oh, and did I tell you I did the biggest ironing pile I have ever seen... I swear I will never let my ironing get on top of me like that again!!!

Have a lovely week everyone.  Get some egg painting done, and if you fancy making an Easter hat, this is one we made last year!

  

Getting Creative in Schools

Last week I did some work in a primary school in Wigan for a couple of days, as part of the excellent services provided by Drumcroon Gallery in Wigan (if you live in the area, please go and visit, they have a fantastic exhibition on at the moment).  I loved it!!  I love working with young people, and being able to get creative with them, and see them explore their own creativity was fabulous.  

I had the pleasure of working with 2 groups of year 4 children for a couple of days.  Their theme was snow and ice, and we were focusing on colour and shape to create a piece of work, rather than drawing a picture (a difficult task, they are so used to drawing a 'picture' they found it difficult just to make marks by exploring shapes).

The first session, we got pastels out and made a mess!!  They were covered, and although some initially made a fuss about having dirty hands, they soon get into the flow and created some lovely pieces.  The colours were fabulous and they really explored mixing and changing the colours.

These were then recreated in collage, using recycled paper from magazines.  

In the second session, we had a look at stitch.  Spent a bit of time learning to thread needles and create lines with thread before using these new skills on top of the collages they had done previously.

Like I said earlier, a fabulous couple of days.  The children were great and most of them really enjoyed it.  I am looking forward to doing more!